NEWS
NY Senate shakeup may delay gaming contract
Posted: Thursday, June 26, 2008 10:44 AM
NEWLY-INSTALLED NEW YORK
SENATE MAJORITY LEADER
DEAN SKELOS
by Paul Post
New York State Senator Joseph L. Bruno's (R-Brunswick) announcement on Monday that he would not seek re-election in November may slow down the process of selecting a gaming operator for the proposed Aqueduct racino, which is slated to have 4,500 video lottery terminals.
State officials have indicated a decision might be coming in the next week or two, but Bissett said he expects this week’s power shift at the state capitol to delay things a bit.
On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled Senate selected a new majority leader, Senator Dean Skelos of Nassau County, Long Island, whose district is close to Belmont Park.
“I’m sure that Senator Skelos wants to take his time and be briefed about it,” said Delaware North Companies President William Bissett of the Aqueduct decision. “I suspect he wants to review it.”
Bissett made his remarks at the New York Gaming Summit, held in Saratoga Sprints, New York, on Wednesday. More than 200 gaming industry leaders from around the country attended the conference.
Delaware North Companies, one of three groups competing for the Aqueduct gaming contract, has offered the highest upfront franchise fee, $370-million. Its proposal, however, is the only one that does not include plans for a large-scale hotel-retail-entertainment complex.
“It’s not the way we’re going to build the model,” Bissett said.
Asked how Aqueduct would compete with large casino resorts in Connecticut and Atlantic City, Bissett said, “There are 12-million people within 20 minutes of Aqueduct. I’ll take that opportunity any day.”
Bruno wanted to bring gaming to Belmont, too, less than ten miles away, whose extra revenue is needed to keep New York racing competitive with other states, he said. Bissett, however, said the state should examine how gaming fares at Aqueduct, which will provide a live working model to evaluate, before going ahead at Belmont.
“If you get too far ahead of yourselves, sometimes the market doesn’t produce,” he said. “It’s smart to see what happens before you take a leap of faith.”
Aqueduct will be the second gaming facility in the metropolitan New York area. Yonkers Raceway, a harness track just north of the city, has 5,300 VLTs.
“People will have to make choices,” Bissett said.
Capital Play Inc., partnered with Mohegan Sun casino of Connecticut, and New York-based SL Green Realty Trust, partnered with Hard Rock Entertainment, are also seeking the Aqueduct contract. Capital Play Chief Executive Officer Karl O’Farrell said that he, too, expects delays resulting from the Senate shakeup.
“Dean Skelos will have to be briefed,” he said. “That in itself will cause some kind of delay.”
SL Green/Hard Rock was not represented at Wednesday’s Gaming Summit.
Paul Post is a New York-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent
